Meant to be
by xJordanKayX
Summary: Childhood best friends Cordelia Goode and Misty Day attend Miss Robichaux' Academy for exceptional young ladies together. Between Teenage problems, facing their growing Powers and Graduating they have to face their changing and growing feelings for one another.
1. VI

This is a story I promised my best friend ages ago and I just found large parts of it on my hard drive and, so I have to actually finish that some day (she still hates me for never reading more) I decided to share it here. Though I love the show, this is not my preferred fandom and I wrote most of it just after Season 3 aired, so this might be incredibly horrible and OOC. I'd like to hear your thoughts.

Characters not mine sadly

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Chapter I

The blonde has absolutely no idea where she is. The streets are wider and the houses bigger and more glamorous than on her side of town. And a lot more intimidating.

Her mother is a few houses down the street (her Bible Class has weekly meetings), but when the little girl turns around, she dejectedly has to admit, that it is rather a house a few streets down. She has absolutely no idea where she is or how to get back.

It is the first time she has ever ventured this far, normally she is satisfied with the swing set, hidden behind some bushes and trees that are in dire need of trimming and away from the window her mother could spot her through. Today, she feels adventurous however, and the swing set has been covered in spider webs and unruly vines.

It is rather ironic, how easily she's manages to slip out of the house and the normally watchful eyes of her mother who prides herself on her perfect child raising abilities. If she only knew, how often the girl spends Bible Class outside, counting clouds and passing birds, only sneaking back in, when she is sure they are about to break off.

She never had a soft spot for God or Jesus and all the miracle stories her mother had cited as bed time stories for as long as she can remember. And since she found out she could move things with her mind at sheer will, she is afraid of spending her day in the company of a dozen witchcraft condemning Bible fanatics. She had heard too many of the stories to know what's going to happen if they ever found out.

She rakes her hands through her dirty blonde locks, turning on the spot once, twice, hoping to see anything that would help her remember where she's supposed to have come from.

She doesn't.

Two cars honk at her when she stops in the middle of the street and stomps her foot in frustration. She's not used to this much hassle – where she comes from she sees most people walking to the bus stop instead of driving their own car all the time. The majority of her time is spent in her backyard anyway, that connects to a larger forest where her mother likes to teach her different animals and plants.

Sheepishly apologizing to the driver of one of the cars, the girl comes to a halt in front of a beautiful white two story building, complete with a big front yard, surrounded by a large green hedge and an ornate entry Gate. She pauses for a moment on the sidewalk, gawking at the building's exterior in awe before she pushes open the heavy Iron Gate and steps through.

Her clear and only intention was to ring the doorbell and to ask if they, by any chance, know of any Bible Class around here. That intention however, wavers quickly, as she spots all the interesting toys and dolls littering the lawn. Most of them she has never seen.

One arrangement in particular catches her eye; somewhere in the back stands a plastic table, lines with five plastic chairs, four of them occupied with plastic dolls that seem to be drinking tea out of plastic cups. Walking over, she takes one of the dolls out of its chair, inspecting it more closely. She's begged her mother for a doll for over a year now.

The only thing her backyard has is an old, pretty rotten tree where her father had put up a self made swing. The house, her room in particular, doesn't look much different. Her mother is of the opinion, that girls her age don't need to play with dolls and toys, but rather learn the ways of the Bible and how to behave like a lady. The little girl hates both of it.

"Hey! What are you doing?" comes a timid voice behind her suddenly. Turning around she is faced with a beautiful brown eyed blonde around her age. She's a little shorter than herself but, she suspects, at least a few months older, too. Her skirt is a bright yellow, the matching shirt adorned with red roses. Her feet are bare, with nails painted in a dark crimson color that match her finger nails.

"Nothing" she answers and, doll still clutched to her chest, walks in the other girl's direction. "She is pretty"

That's when the smaller blonde notices her doll. With a few steps, the girls stand face to face. "That's my doll. Give it back!" leaves small lips angrily.

"But I like her" comes the instant reply.

" .Back." And with one quick motion the doll is back in its owner's arms, which promptly turns and stalks back over to the swing set she's come from.

"NO!" the taller girl exclaims, more to annoy the other girl than out of serious want for that doll and both kids watch, as it lifts itself in the air and levitates across the lawn. About halfway over, it comes to an abrupt stop, hovering on the spot for a long moment, before moving back in the direction it came from. They stare at each other in surprise, they don't really know anyone else who can do that, too. Then the doll is in motion again. That tugging game goes on a full two minutes, both girls fighting over the toy without lifting a finger, standing almost on opposite sides of the big garden.

"Stop it" the smaller girl cries.

" _You_ stop it" the taller girl shoots right back.

"Both of you, stop it!" A third voice sounds from the front steps. "Are you out of your minds?" The toy hits the ground with a thud, both girls looking rather ashamed, studying their shoes. "Using your magic out in the open, where everyone can see you. How often did I tell you not to do that, Delia?!"

"I'm sorry mother" the girl in question bravely hefts her gaze onto the adult. "She try steal my doll" she mumbles on, pointing her head over at the other girl.

"No, I don't" she starts to defend herself. This is the girl's – Delia's- mother after all, of course she would believe her daughter. But she is cut off by the woman.

"Of course you didn't" There is no trace of sarcasm in her voice. "My daughter has way too much imagination. Tell her you're sorry, Cordelia!" The other blonde just looks on in amazed shock.

"But…"

"No buts, Delia. Do it" Her mother is firm and if they hadn't just been berated for using magic in public, both girls are sure she would use it to force Delia to apologize.

"I'm sorry" but she doesn't look at the girl, that somehow now stands right beside her.

"Now," Delia's mother turns her attention back onto the stranger "What's your name? I'm gonna have your parents pick you up and deal with you."

The girl pales. "I'm Misty Day, but please don't tell my mommy."

Delia's mother scoffs and Misty thinks, that the woman does not really come across as an actual mother. "Maybe you should have thought about this before flaunting your Powers around here"

"They not know I do that. Please" Misty's wild blue eyes wander from Delia to her mother and back, frantically. "I think they hurt me" she almost cries.

The comforting hand on her shoulder is the last thing she had expected but then Cordelia wraps the crying girl in her arms and into a hug. "Why would they do that?"

"I 'spose be at Bible Class right now" Misty answers sheepishly, mumbling her answer into the other girl's shoulder.

"Then you probably should be two streets down at Mrs Henderson's instead of my front yard. What are you doing here?" The woman is getting angry. She hates those Bible freaks and their shitty morale and views on everything not catholic and if that little girl knows that Delia has Powers, it is only a matter of time until everyone knows about them. Of course _now_ her daughter seems to have found a liking to the other girl. That is just so typical; almost everything Delia does is just to spite her mother. Of course, she may have deserved it but that is the last thing Fiona would admit to.

"I'm afraid of them" Misty repeats "Mommy say witches are burned at the stake" she pauses for a moment to collect her thoughts "I got lost and I want to ask to get back. Please don't let them set me on fire. Please, please, please!" she is shivering now, and Delia pulls her close, sheltering her from the cold that isn't there.

"Oh, stop crying! I won't tell your folks" Fiona may not be the most compassionate person and quite frankly a pretty shitty mother but she is definitively not, in no way, letting a six year old girl be burned alive. Her words bring a little smile on the young girl's face and she couldn't stop thanking the woman enough. She's not afraid anymore, but rather excited to have found more people that seem to be like her. She's not so sure about the girl's mother, but maybe she and Delia could be friends some day and that the shorter blonde would be willing to help her understand what she is and what she can do.

Cordelia pulls back out off their embrace a minute later, looking Misty over to see if the girl can be seen in public, then she announces "Come on, I show you back"

A quick questioning look to her mother and a nod on Fiona's part later, the girls are on their way down the street, where Misty has come from earlier.

They walk hand in hand, Delia's doll in Misty's arms. The smaller girl has picked it up and shoved it at Misty just before they left the property. They both don't hold a grudge for very long - unless Delia is angry at her mother.

"Why you leave Bible Class?" Delia asks curiously.

"I get bored" Misty shrugs "I always leave"

That makes Delia laugh.

"You have Powers, too" It's an observation, nothing more. No question, because she has seen Delia use them; no judgement, because she has them as well.

"My family are witches" Delia whispers back. It's pretty unlikely that people overhearing them would take two six year olds saying they are witches seriously – but her mother taught her to be careful. "Mother is a leader or something, I not see her much" Misty recognizes, that her new friend doesn't sound too sad about that fact.

"I'm so sorry for taking your doll. I think you want to play" She changes the topic and, suddenly her shoes are more interesting than the conversation.

"I'm sorry for saying you steal it" Delia squeezes their still joined hands. Then she stops. "It's over there, Mother don't want me to go there"

Misty turns, recognizing the house she'd snuck out off two hours prior. It's located at the end of the short street and she can see, that nobody is looking for her yet. She still has about ten more minutes to sneak back in. "Thank you" She gives their hands another squeeze, before letting go. Then she hands the doll back but Delia wouldn't take it.

"You have it"

"My mama don't let me keep it" the girl replies sadly.

"Then you play with it when you come over"

Misty leans forward to kiss her new friend on the cheek and with a smile and a wave bundles down the street.


	2. X

Her freshly showered blonde hair is nowhere to be found as she fumbles her fingers through it. Instead, she finds a dirty mess of brown mud, gluing the normally neat stands together into one big clot. The girl sitting beside her on the forgotten tree stump doesn't look any better.

Her mother is going to kill them, but then again, with a bit of luck, Fiona would be too wasted to recognize the mess in the backyard. Where, as a little girl, Cordelia was naive enough to think her mother is busy with being the Surpreme all the time, she'd figured out a while ago, that leading their coven had very little to do with the fact that Fiona Goode is almost never around. It wouldn't be the first time she just didn't care enough about her daughter and her friend that they got away with something like that.

"Maybe we should clean this up before we change" Misty suggests, prying mud off her clothes and out off her blonde locks. "And before your mother gets here" They actually have no idea when the adult intends to make an appearance – neither where she'd headed off to earlier – but the children have nothing to eat in the house, so they hope she will at least be by for dinner.

"Probably, yeah" Delia agrees, though making no attempt to actually get up. After another minute of silent appraisal of their work, the taller girl pulls her friend by her hands off the stump. Losing her footing on the slippery surface of what used to be a neatly gardened lawn, the girls stumble, giggling, onto the floor.

"Shit" Delia mumbles but couldn't keep the smile off her face. They tried hard not to completely destroy their clothes. It was one thing to have a shower and be presentably clean when Fiona arrived home, but neither of the two ten-year-olds knows how to operate a washing machine and they probably don't have enough time anyway. Seems like Delia is getting another lecture on how to behave like a lady and, maybe finally a lesson on how to wash her own clothes. It _would_ make those things easier to hide.

"What's done is done" the other witch too casually remarks, before planting a mischievous smirk on her face and dumping a handful of mud right onto her friend's head. Delia squeals from the sudden coldness and wriggles out of the grip Misty still has on her from their fall.

"You are so gonna pay for that" Delia declares, scooping more of the clay up and decorating a squirming 10 year olds face with it.

The next heap lands square on the smaller girl's chest, most likely ruining her white-ish top forever, the proud grin on Misty's face indicating she doesn't really care all that much. She hates that thing anyway. Another high pitched squeal lets Misty know, that the cold dirt reached its intended target under the other girl's clothes.

With a strength neither of them had anticipated, Delia flips Misty onto her back, straddling the girl and pushing her flat onto the dirty ground. That day is the last one her black flowing dress would participate in. Delia doesn't mind, because as much as Misty hates Cordelia dressing all light and flowery, the smaller blonde hates her friend being dressed in almost nothing else than dark colors. A gentle shove pushes Delia off of Misty and the two girls find themselves lying side by side covered in mud. The taller girl is the first one to outright laugh, though it doesn't take long for Delia to join in.

When a car comes to a stop in front of their heavy, fancy Iron Gate entrance, the laughter dies down just as immediate as it had started. They wait patiently, with bated breath and not moving a muscle. If Fiona caught them behaving like little kids and ruining their garden, then she could as well rant and rave at them in the middle of their mischief. They hear the sound of the Gate rattling and a car door slamming shut again, before said car drives off again.

Both girls let out a sight of relieve. Misty may not be Delia's sister, but that kind of does not stop Fiona from treating her as such when they get into trouble (which admittedly was rather often in the last four years). Since, in plenty of those occasions magic had been involved, the adult refrained from retelling what they'd done to Misty's parents but rather took the honor into her own hands and berated the children. It still surprises them that Delia never ended up with even the threat of being grounded. But then again, when Misty does not come around practically every day, Fiona would have to spend more time with her daughter herself.

This time however, they actually get up to clean, the shock of almost being caught driving them to work. Rake and shovel in hand, they try to flatten and restore the ground into its former state. (If Fiona bothered to look, she would find, that this particular part of the garden had left "its former state" months ago, but they couldn't risk it).

When the last flower pot is back in its place, lining their play ground just perfectly enough that you don't see it unless you actually work at the flowers, they look at their work one last time. Satisfied with their hard work, they return the tools to the shed and hurriedly make their way up the front steps. They both put on a pair of garden shoes that they now discard inside the fancy bench no one uses anyway, because they'd learned the hard way to not leave dirty footprints on the white tiled floor. Also it would kind of defeat the purpose of sneaking around so Fiona wouldn't notice what they'd done. Delia makes a beeline straight for the upstairs bathroom, careful not to lose too much mud along the way – while Misty tries to break off in the other direction once they reach the landing on the top floor. She'll be waiting in her friend's bedroom, lets her have the first shower, but Delia reaches for her hand and pulls her along to the room at the end of the hall.

"I'll be just.." while Delia charges into the room, turning on the shower faucet to let the water heat up, Misty stops outside the door awkwardly. She gestures vaguely with her hands, because she honestly has no idea herself what she is going to say or do, but Delia catches her hand in hers again, mid-air, and drags her into the bathroom.

"We do so not have time for separate showers." she says, closing the door behind them and turning the lock "Don't be such a baby" The smaller girl starts to undress, laughing at her friend who does everything to look everywhere except the other girl. "Come on, you can't shower with all those clothes on"

Misty is still uncomfortable as she too, gets rid of her clothes and steps under the hot spray Delia is already occupying.

She is just not used to this much openness. Her mother always tells her it is a sin to look at other's bodies; she isn't even allowed to change in the same room as her cousins. But as the hot water cascades down her face, taking with it the dirt and mud Delia had put there before, she starts to relax. They are the best of friends and they are ten years old for god's sake. What does it matter?! She wouldn't have to tell her mother, anyway. Just like she keeps her sinful witchcraft a secret from her mother – or the fact, that she's sharing a bed with her best friend whenever she stays the night.

"Your face is still dirty" she says, when she finally opens her eyes and looks at her smiling friend's face. She doesn't dare looking anywhere else for fear of making the situation uncomfortable again. "Like here" she indicates in the general direction of the other girl's left cheek and, when Delia opens _her_ eyes, Misty redirects the flowing water with her palms, splashing right into dark orbs. The tall blonde laughs, while Delia screws her eyes shut again, pushing at the closed lids with her fingers to get the water out.

"I don't even know why I like you" the older of the two girls exclaims, preparing to give as good as she got.

Misty catches her wrists and, dramatically holds them in the air between them "We do so not have time for this" she mocks her pouting friend "Don't be such a baby"

"See, I hate you" Delia says, rinsing the last of the shampoo out off her hair. It's not lost in her, that those are the exact words she had used on Misty before.

Misty reaches over to turn off the hot water when has finally managed to work her fingers through her unruly hair enough to be certain that there is no left over suds. Cordelia is already wrapped up in a big fluffy towel when Misty steps out off the shower stall. She hands her friend a matching one.

Then they make their way hurriedly down the hall and into the shorter girl's bedroom. She rummages through a box in the back of the closet and produces a large plastic bag, filled with clothes that the girl either doesn't wear anymore or look similar to the ones they just discarded. Their dirty clothes join them before she hides the bag again. She has no idea what she is going to do with them – probably throw them out with the rest of the pile – since the last thing she wants right now is trouble with her mother. She has enough of that just for existing.

Hastily throwing on some clothes, they hope it isn't too obvious that they just had a shower in the middle of the day. Misty staying over as much as she does, the girl has her own clothes in Delia's closet, which makes it easier to justify the different clothes from this morning. On the other hand, the girls are not even sure Fiona noticed what they had on this morning and what not.

Back in the bathroom, Cordelia blow-dries her hair, while Misty towel dries it as good as possible and then tries to pull a brush through. With a huff of frustration she gives up pretty soon. She is startled when her friend takes the hair brush from her fingers, pulls it through her own hair, before tugging the girl over to the tub and gently pushes her down to sit on the edge. With a smile, she complies and, in no time Delia manages to tame the wild mane of hair.

"Delia, Misty, dinner is ready" They hear from the front hall, as soon as they open the door to the bathroom again.

"Coming" both girls shout down the stairs simultaneously.

Skipping down the stairs as fast as possible, their sock clad feet come to a skittering stop in the kitchen doorway, where Fiona is already laying out the various Chinese take-out containers she'd purchased. Their stomachs suddenly rumble, making the girls realize they are actually really hungry.

Misty had shown up around eleven (incredibly early for a Friday, but Fiona had some _errands_ to run), Fiona had cleared out right after that, and the two girls had simply skipped lunch, too engrossed in their work out back in the garden. And then Fiona had bought all their favourite food from that place just down the street both of them had seen from the inside only once. Delia does have the strange suspicion, that her mother memorized Misty's favourite foods and drinks for the simple purpose of keeping her around more often. It is easier to justify leaving your kid home alone for most of the day, when they actually _aren't_ alone.

In the four years Misty and Delia had become friends, the tall blonde hasn't seen all that much of her best friend's mother.

She would come by almost every day after school and most times stay till after dinner, on the weekends she mostly never left at all. Breakfast and dinner are normally the only actual times she would get a glimpse of Fiona, but as she had learned over the last four years, it had nothing to do with her personally – she would leave her daughter alone whether or not Misty was around.

She would sneak out of Bible Class her mother is still making her go to and sneak back in just before they are finished. When the door would open and Misty'd leave the Henderson's house, she would greet a waiting Delia cheerfully, never letting on, that they arrived together not five minutes earlier.

On Fridays, Delia actually had to spend time with her mother, since the woman insists on teaching her daughter Latin. It is a pretty useful task, considering most of their witchcraft spells are drafted in that language, but it limited the time the children could have fun together, which annoyed them to no end. So, Fridays are the days Misty rings the doorbell at eight p.m., ready for some fun and a sleepover that'll last until Sunday evening.

They had met at Misty's once or twice, primarily to introduce the girl their daughter is spending all her time with to Misty's parents. Fiona had even joined them that first time. She needed to know the parents of her daughter's best friend. She spun some tales about how they were perfectly fine and looked after at their house and how much she loved having Misty around. Even with six, they were smart enough to hold their tongues and not mention that they could count the occasions Fiona had spent with them on one hand. This friendship benefitted Fiona as much as it did the girls.

Since most of their fun ended up with the accidental or not so accidental use of magic, they soon discovered, that Misty's house wasn't really the best place for them to wreak havoc. The fact, that Misty's mother still wasn't all that sold on the idea of her daughter actually playing and having fun instead of being a lady made their days at the Day's house rather boring, too. Misty had heard her parents argue this one night, after they had been introduced to a very well behaved Cordelia, and though she's still not allowed toys or dolls in the house, her mother had relented to the fact that she still had Fridays to teach her daughter good manners.

The two girls and Fiona find themselves around the table, passing around take-out containers. Cordelia's mother actually tries to make small talk, pretends to be interested in her daughter's life – asks how their day had been; what they did; if Misty is staying the weekend like always; if they need anything. They know, they would probably spend the weekend alone, this just confirms it. Delia asks for some pasta or pizza or _something_ so they won't starve the next two days. Misty asks for something else to drink, since tap water gets boring all too soon. And, after a look shared between the children, they blurt out simultaneously that, what's really missing, is chocolate. Fiona shakes her head, even manages a small smile at their antics and promises to make a shopping trip after dinner.

When Fiona leaves an hour later, both girls know, they won't see her until Sunday.


	3. XIII

_She remembers how she used to hate math class with all her being. She doesn't hate school in general, and she's not bad at it either, but she just doesn't get_ this _. She used to have absolutely no idea what her teacher was saying because she can't understand the logic behind it._

 _Now, however, she has no idea, because she stopped listening. She's preoccupied with staring at the back of the boy in front of her. He'd transferred to her school three weeks ago and, suddenly, math didn't seem so horrible anymore._

 _It's her first crush, she just recently overcame the stage in her life where boys were nothing but_ eww _, and it scared her at first. She'd talked to Misty about it at length and she'd even dared to ask her mother about the strange things she's feeling and though the woman wasn't that much of a help (She'd told her to get used to it and then left the girls alone for the weekend), she's not afraid anymore. She thinks she could even get to like it._

 _When the bell rings, she packs up her things slowly, she knows he's turning around every day to get his bag from the back of his chair. Today is no different, but when the boy faces her, it's not the boy anymore._

 _She's staring at the beautiful face of her best friend who smiles down at her gently._

Cordelia wakes to noises in front of the house. Her bedroom faces the front yard, and it's not the first time people woke her by standing on their doorstep.

It's the first time, however, that she had dreamt about _that boy_ and she's not sure what to think. The fact, that he turned into her best friend, a girl, confuses her to no end, also. She would like to ask someone what that means, but her mother doesn't care enough and Misty is definitively the wrong person to talk to.

That's new, too. In the last seven years there was nothing Delia hadn't told Misty – or couldn't tell her. Last month, when the girl had her very first period, the first person she went to, had been her friend. And only after she couldn't really help Cordelia out there, had the other girl reluctantly turned to her mother for help. Then she had shared what Fiona told her with Misty because she knew the taller blonde couldn't talk to her own mother when the time came. When Fiona had overheard that conversation, she told the girls that this is not really a topic you are supposed to converse over just for the joy of it (she'd said it's way too personal) but Delia hadn't cared. She's glad to have someone with whom she can talk about _everything_ – no matter how personal or maybe even inappropriate it was.

So what is she going to do now? She has other friends of course, but none of them she really wants to reveal this to. The only thing she knows, is that she will be sharing that dream with Misty as soon as the girl gets here, up until the part where the other girl starts to appear. Misty would be so delighted about that development in her crush of that boy. Everything else, she relents, she has to figure out for herself.

The girl is pulled out of her thoughts, when she hears her mother calling for her. She's genuinely surprised by that. She hadn't known her mother is even home and she honestly hadn't cared last night when she went to bed. After their weekly Latin lessons Fiona had left under one pretence or the other and Delia had spent the evening eating ice-cream and going to bed way later than she's allowed to on occasions her mother is there to monitor that.

She pushes back the covers with a sigh, swings her legs over the edge of her bed and stretches her still tired muscles. A glance at the clock reveals that it's barely seven a.m., and she knows, that the only reason Fiona had opened the door in the first place was because she just came home herself. At another shout, she rolls her eyes, but gets up finally. She doesn't have to go far though; the moment she opens her bedroom door, a bunch of wild blonde hair crashes into her. She's about to make a joke about watching where you walk, but is stopped by a strange sound coming from Misty. It sounds suspiciously like sniffling. Looking her friend over carefully, Cordelia can see that the other girl had actually been crying. Red eyes, wet cheeks, and that awful sniffling sound – all the indications are right there.

Taking the girl's hand, Delia drags her back into the room, closing the door with her foot while turning around and pushes her down to sit on the bed. She takes a seat beside her and envelops Misty in a tight hug. The girl cries into her friend's shoulder.

Delia's curious, but she doesn't want to push and so she just silently comforts Misty, tightening her hold ever so often, to let the other girl know she's there for her. Her patience is rewarded ten minutes later, when Misty pulls back and wipes her eyes with her sleeve. She doesn't care, she's just going to change it later.

"I'm sorry I woke you up so early" she says, gets up from the bed. She makes her way over to Cordelia's closet and pulls out one of her own shirts. "Your mother probably hates me now" The words are mumbled into the fabric she just pulled over her head.

"Don't worry, she just got home herself." The blonde tries some humor to cheer Misty up some, before she just has to ask what she's doing here.

In the last seven years nothing really changed and – if so – their friendship only grew stronger. Every day, they went to school, did their homework and then met at Delia's. Both girls have other friends, too but none of the invitations hold the same appeal than what they already have. Some birthday parties and the occasional outing they had been roped into with a lot of begging – that's really the only time the girls have spent apart over the years.

Friday's were still reserved for Latin lessons with Fiona and Bible lessons with Misty's mother (though fortunately the girl had managed to talk her mother out of Bible Class one year ago).

Misty would still come by Friday evening for sleepovers. This week Misty's mother had insisted that the girl stay home after lessons, because they had something important to discuss and, as much as she didn't want to, she had relented and told Delia she would be by around ten on Saturday. No matter what her parents had to say to her, she knew, she either wouldn't like it or just didn't care. As it turns out, it is the former.

"We're moving" She grabs a handful of tissues form the vanity because she can feel the tears coming again. "My daddy's got a new job offer and it makes more money, so he's taking it" She is engulfed in another hug, as Delia folds her arms around the taller blonde's waist.

"When are you leaving?" They won't be moving far. This is nothing serious. They will still get to spend a lot of time together. If she's not in reaching distance for daily visits, there's still the weekend. And holidays.

"Saturday, so I have enough time to get around before the new school year starts." She buries her face in Cordelia's shoulder, lets the few tears that threaten to escape roll down her cheeks. This is goodbye – she knows it and, deep down, Delia does, too. "Delia, this is not like I'm moving to another street. We won't see each other anymore"

"But you can't leave" They are both crying now. They can't do this. They are like family – they _are_ family – and though there are ways and methods of keeping in touch even when not in the same state, they just can't do this. The last seven years have been the best years of their lives. Without Misty, Delia has no one to talk to about her magic or use magic with – and vice versa. They need each other in more ways than they had ever imagined.

"I have to"

"Why don't you stay here?" Delia has to say something. It's barely audible through her tears but she needs to fill the silence that fills the room.

"I'm thirteen, Delia" the girl laughs. "I can't stay alone in another state"

"No, I mean, why don't you stay _here_?!" She doesn't know where that idea came from, but she knows, as soon as it leaves her lips, that she means it. Misty's spending the majority of her time at their house anyway, so what did it matter if she moved in officially? It's the perfect solution – Misty doesn't want to leave and Delia doesn't want her to.

The wild blonde more than once confessed to her friend, that she doesn't know, what she would do if she didn't have Cordelia. The friendship in itself, is of course incredibly important to the both of them, but there's also the fact that they are both witches. No one in Misty's family knows about her Powers and she intends to keep it that way. It is incredibly hard for the girl to hide her magic from her parents at times though, because when she doesn't use it for a while, she just tends to forget, that she has it. More than once objects started to fly through the room when she was thinking about something in particular and she's still afraid of anyone finding out. She can't see herself living with her parents, away from Delia and even Fiona and not let her magic get public notice.

"Honey, your mother would have a fit, and I'm going to school on the other side of town" Misty shrugs "Besides, my parents would never allow this" She wants to stay, Delia can hear it in her voice and feel it in her body language as the girl leans more heavily against her. Her hair smells like roses and for a moment Cordelia is transported back to her strange dream.

Shaking her head, she gets rid of the images quickly. She doesn't have the time for that. "So you'll change schools, you'll have to do that at your new home anyway" They finally move out of each other's arms, but just long enough to walk back over to the bed and cuddle up against the headboard. "And my mother won't even notice you're here. I'm sure you know that"

She doesn't mention the situation with Misty's parents, because they both know, that this is the least of their problems. It they actually do this, if they get Fiona on board with this, the adult has ways and means to make it happen.

"You will be leaving here in three years, to go to that Boarding School for witches"

"So you come with me" Delia detaches herself from Misty's arms and turns around to look at her friend. Sitting cross-legged on her bed, she almost bounces with energy. She can't believe she hasn't thought about this before now. "This will be so amazing. We learn all about our magic and how to use it properly and we are going to be going to the same school"

The girl rambles on for a whole while, as Misty drifts off, lost in the idea of the image Delia is picturing. With a short laugh, Misty leaps forward and throws her arms around her friend's neck. This shuts the shorter girl up effectively.

"You seriously mean that?" Delia nods in reply, her smile hidden in the other girl's hair. When Delia leaps off the bed without warning, they stumble onto the floor and with a lot of laughter Cordelia pulls her friend off the floor and heads out the door with Misty's hadn in her own.

Misty is confused, until they come to a stop in front of Fiona's room – then she's just scared. The adult would never hurt any of them, but she's still not pleasant to be around when tired, or drunk, or hung over – or just not in the mood to deal with the children. But Delia knocks without a second thought and doesn't shy away when her mother opens the door and glares at them. The girl's not scared of her mother anymore – at least not as often as she used to be.

Fiona is not really excited about the idea at first, but with some clever prodding and well-thought through arguments on how this would benefit all of them, they don't need that long to sell her the idea. She tells them to get out of her hair and let her sleep for a few hours and promised to have an actual conversation about this. They spend the day camped out in Cordelia's room and when there is a knock on the door four hours later, they can't help but be pleasantly surprised. When Fiona genuinely makes an effort to have this conversation, then this thing is as good as over.

The girls are pretty confident, that this will work out.


	4. XVI

Chapter IV – XVI

The girls sit cross-legged on their bed, facing each other, while talking about the upcoming party with clear excitement. Misty has, technically, her own room in the house but in the almost three years the girl lived with her best friend, she had used that room, and the bed maybe once. They had always shared a bed at sleepovers and, though Fiona had looked at them funny at first, they didn't see why that had to change just because they had sleepovers every day now.

It's two days until Misty's sixteenth birthday and five days, until they'd leave for New Orleans. Much to the girls' surprise Fiona promised them each a big birthday party that doubled as a farewell party, too. After realizing her mistake – throwing two parties in the span of four weeks – the adult almost backed out of it. (That's something the girls would _not_ have been surprised by) Then she had the idea of throwing one bash and so Cordelia is as excited about the upcoming event as her best friend is. After all, she'd waited almost two weeks for it already.

They have a little group of friends each that normally don't hang with the other (though that group is very little since the two girls rarely spend time apart from each other) but the majority of the invited are the people they share as friends.

Misty had been apprehensive at first, going to a new school, leaving her friends at her old school, but they are still friends and Delia made the transition so much easier. She'd known most of the girls form Delia's earlier birthdays, but since they never really saw each other outside of those, they never became real friends. This changed when the blonde was introduced into their class and there was never any talk about Misty not being around every time the others made plans. The other girls never questioned it, welcomed her willingly into their little group and Misty is glad for that. She had never been good at making friends – her first meeting with her now best friend started with them fighting, after all.

The living arrangements were even easier. Fiona paid her parents a visit, talked a few minutes about how lovely Misty was and how great the girls were getting along – she was so beyond thrilled to have her around so much – and how devastating it would be for the girls to be separated. Of course, she neglected to mention, that _she_ would be required to spend time with her daughter should Misty not be there. Then, she went on to telling them how sad it was, that the girl had to leave and how it would be no problem for her to stay with them to finish school. She'd mentioned a great boarding school she is thinking of _maybe_ sending Delia to when she's sixteen and that she could arrange a spot for Misty, too if they wanted. She had send the girls to play some time after that, so they have no idea, if it was the promise of a good education for their daughter or if Fiona actually used magic, but in the end Misty moved into their house on Saturday instead of across the country.

Delia had her set of daily and weekly chores which had just been divided between the two girls. Misty was eager to do her share because she's not a guest and she knew it and she needed to show Fiona that she did. Her clothes occupy the closet in the room she's supposed to be sleeping in because Delia's is just not big enough to add an extra one, but still the room is almost never used. She brings her clothes for the day into their shared room before bed and only enters the other one for that purpose or to put the laundry away.

Fiona had, time and time again, tried to reason with the girls to sleep in separate beds or to, at least use the bathroom separately (she had actually told them that the latter was unnatural for girls their age, no matter how often they did that when they were little) but eventually, she just gave up. They were friends and didn't listen to her anyway. There would come a time when they stopped that, at the latest, when they are both too occupied dating boys.

"Okay, you need to lend me that red top of yours" Delia says excitedly. They don't lend clothes, they just put on whatever they want and fit. Misty is still a little taller than her friend.

"You mean the one that shows so much cleavage?" Delia nods. "That looks better on ya anyway" Misty hasn't worn it in months but still it ends up in the dirty laundry every other week. She doesn't put it in her own closet anymore.

"I know" the older girl smirks. "Your boobs are too big for it" That earns her a teasing shove and, of it hadn't been for Misty who seemed to have mercy on her friend and reached out for her hands, she would have fallen backwards off the mattress. Misty laughs at the blonde's hard stare that only intensifies, but after a minute or so, Delia joins in the laughter.

"So, did you talk to him?" Misty wants to know, once they're settled down. She squeezes "What did he saaayyy?" She drags out the last word on an exasperated sigh. She knows it's not _her_ she doesn't want to tell this to, but for some reason Delia does not really want to talk about that boy who's crushing on her.

"He likes me"

Another sigh "Like, as in like or _like_ like?" She finds she's not a hundred percent sure she wants to know the answer and that confuses her.

"The latter" She's biting her bottom lip again as she's trying to fight a smile. So she likes him, too. And suddenly Misty's not really fond of the conversation she started anymore. She doesn't want to discuss her best friend's crush, feels a strange sensation when she thinks about it and she doesn't know why.

She knows, that there are girls that are into other girls or even girls and boys, and she has no problem with that, wouldn't have if she was one of them, but she is _not_ into her best friend. She just knows she isn't.

She loves her hair, her eyes, her skin. She loves to think about her, to dream about her, to cuddle with her, to be with her. But she doesn't love _her._ Yea, even Misty realizes that she might have a problem here.

"Told ya" Misty tries herself at a smile she hopes looks sincere. She could tell her friend that they were leaving next week, that there is no point in letting him get closer to her now, but she knows it's not fair. Not when she had been the one pushing Delia to finally find out for sure. It would be nothing more than selfish and she wants her friend to be happy. There's no way she's ever going to tell her that what she's feeling is clearly more than friendship, so it's not fair to talk her out of anything. "Ya think he's gonna do it at the party?" She still doesn't want to have that conversation though.

"Yea" She hesitates for a moment before she confesses "I'm not sure I want him to though"

"Why the hell not? Honey, you've been waiting for that boy to kiss you for months now" Another squeeze to their still joined hands. God, she's so glad when this talk is over.

"He's done it before and I'm afraid he won't like me anymore after"

That's new information. Not the fact that Delia didn't have her first kiss yet, but that she is scared that she would suck at it. Misty can't see that, because Delia is perfect at everything she does.

"You could practice" It's not what she intended to say and quite frankly, she has no idea where it came from. She was about to tell her that there's no way he'd stop liking her.

"I don't know. Wouldn't that technically make it _not_ my first kiss anymore?" She wants to kiss him, because she actually likes him and she'd like to know how much she likes him, and she knows she would never have to see him again if she wanted to but she is still not too fond of embarrassing herself. She's way more interested in kissing Misty though and that's a thought she shouldn't entertain. She cannot, under no circumstances, risk their friendship by confessing some silly feelings she might or might not have for her friend.

"Not if, you know… we uhmm kissed?!" Misty stumbles out, studying their hands nervously. This is dangerous. Where did that idea come from? "It won't count" She's not backing out off it now, but she does hope that Cordelia dismisses her idea as nonsense.

"Yea, you're right" Did she really just say that? She can't just kiss her best friend – practice or not. Especially not when she's probably in love with her.

"Yea"

Both girls don't know what else to say. This is ridiculous. They stare at each other for a long moment. Cordelia is playing with their joined hands in Misty's lap. Then Misty lets out a sigh and leans forward. She connects their lips lightly, applying soft pressure. When she pulls back Delia's eyes slide back open and then their lips are joined again. Cordelia opens her mouth first, falls even more in love when their tongues meet for the first time. They are still holding hands in between them while their tongues explore each other's mouths.

They break apart in desperate need of air, eyes locked. "I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure you don't suck"

"Thank you" Delia laughs. "And for the record, you don't suck either" Misty attempts a bow, laughs, too and when she looks back up, she catches her friend's yes again. She's just thinking about leaning back in, to throw caution to the wind, when she hears voices downstairs.

"Misty, the washer's ready" They hear Fiona call up the stairs. The woman has been out for the day, promised them dinner, so that's probably why she's home now. "Tell Delia to set the table"

"Coming" They shout simultaneously. They don't care if Fiona hears them or not. They'll be down in a minute anyway.

In the end, the party is a great success but the kiss Delia shared with the boy is no match to the one she'd shared with Misty for 'practice'.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter V

The girls are picked up and escorted to their new school three days before classes start by Myrtle Snow. As headmistress she has a lot of other things to take care of before the new school year picks up, but she's also a long time acquaintance of Fiona and an honorary aunt to Cordelia.

Fiona doesn't bother showing up at the school because there are already a bunch of students and they all ache to meet the Supreme and that would just hinder the loving farewell Fiona'd have with her daughters. At least, that's the official story. In reality, she'd hugged them both goodbye and told them to be good and then she left them with Myrtle to go back to bed.

The girls hold hands in the car to the train station, and when they realize they don't need to pick up their luggage from the car's trunk, they don't bother separating even then. Myrtle eyes them with a quick sideways glance, lets a small smile appear on her lips for a moment before she ushers them into their seats. She'd paid them a visit a few months ago, like she does several times a year and the first thing she noticed has been, that the two blondes have grown even closer than before, if that's even possible. There's no way she is going to be the one telling any one of them, but if she'd been a betting woman, the redhead would say there'll never be any _boy_ distracting them from their deep friendship.

She lets them have their privacy, sits a few seats away, but still close enough to keep an eye on them or to be able to strike up a conversation. They may not have realized that they are not only in love with each other but already a couple, but again, everyone else could probably see it. She almost doesn't have the heart to tell them they arrived two hours later, when she turns around and finds them asleep, Misty on Cordelia's shoulder, their arms wrapped around each other. They look so peaceful and happy, like she hasn't seen anyone in a long while. Unfortunately the train would not wait on them forever and they're expected at the academy, so she walks over and gently wakes the two girls up. She can see the change in their posture immediately – two girls that only have each other and have no idea what's to come – and it shows on their faces.

"No one will bite you there" Myrtle jokes, and actually earns a smile and an eye roll from both of the girls.

"We know aunty Myrtle. It's just more comfortable like this" 'Delia adds sheepishly motioning to their joined hands. Misty just nods her head, not able to bring forth any word when they stop in front of a big, white house that looks even more impressing than the one she has been living in the last three years.

"Wow" is all the wild haired blonde gets out. She leans more into her friend, squeezes her hand in hers "Wow".

Cordelia lets out a laugh, squeezes back and then turns to face her friend. "I know! Isn't it incredible?!" It's spoken in nothing more than a whisper and Cordelia isn't sure herself why the breath caught in her throat. She'd like to say it has at least something to do with the impressive building in front of her, housing her new life, but that's probably not it. More likely it has everything to do with the beautiful sight she has when she turns her face just that much and looks at the profile of her best friend's face, mouth and eyes agape in awe.

She had tried to forget that kiss they'd shared a week ago, she really did, but she just couldn't. Every time she looks at Misty, all she remembers is the soft skin of her lips and just how badly she wants to taste them again. She hasn't told her though and has no idea, that Misty is constantly doing the same thing. _One day_ , both of them promise themselves.

When the heavy Iron Gate is opened their attention is brought back to the present and as they walk through the entrance, there are already a few other students occupying the property. Most of them are enjoying the last of the summer sun rays before they are gone and the girls are forced to spend the majority of their day inside studying. Some look at them funny, probably because they are the new ones, others just don't even care. Misty and Cordelia decide to ignore them for now. There is enough time, after they made themselves at home here, to make new friends. For now, they had each other and that had always been enough.

The headmistress office is located on the ground floor, towards the back of the large house and so they get a good look at all the school has to offer already. They are not paying as much attention as they could have, as others would have, but it's enough to get a first impression of their new home for the next two years. Myrtle again lets them have their privacy, doesn't indulge in the regular stories she tells her new students when touring the premises with them. There's enough time for that yet and she can understand how the girls are feeling right now.

They only make a quick stop at the office to get them signed in and retrieve their schedules and room number, before Myrtle leads them upstairs to their room. The sleeping quarters are located on the first floor, separated between girls and boys dorms, though there are pretty few of the latter even attending the school. They have been told, that with the amount of witches studying here, all of the rooms would have to be shared between at least four students – in some cases there are even up to eight people crammed into one room.

When they arrive at their designated door, they spot only two names on the door. Myrtle puts the two blonde's names next to them, and when the door opens to reveal their new bedroom, they are relieved to see that with them, the room would be full. Huddled together on one of the four beds occupying the room, two dark haired girls snap their heads in their direction to eye the newcomers. They flash a small smile and get back to talking. The new girls should get enough time to get moved in and comfortable, before they are bombarded with questions by the curios siblings.

"Here you go" Myrtle gestures for them to step inside "Make yourself at home, make some friends and remember, if you need anything, my office is always open" She still debates if it is wise, and desired, to hug her two honorary nieces, when she is wrapped in a tight embrace.

"We know, and we will. Thanks aunty Myrtle" That earns them a curios side glance from their new roommates. No one had said anything about any family of the Headmistress attending – and the two girls arrived a week ago. They tried to get all the gossip there is to get before the school year starts, there's really nothing else to do when you are few of the only people already walking the grounds. Still, the only thing they could get their hands on was the rumor that the Supreme's daughter will be starting school this semester.

"Alright, we were gonna give you a few minutes to get settled in, but we're curios like that" One of the girls says after the door is closed behind Myrtle. "So, what's your story?"

Misty shares a look with her best friend, tries to read her reaction to the other girls. They were supposed to make friends and the two seem friendly enough, but it had been the two of them for so long, that both of them don't know what to do about situations like this. Cordelia stares back, just as stunned. She pulls her friend over to one of the unoccupied beds, lets herself lean against the headrest and waits for Misty to sink onto the mattress beside her. She wraps her arms around her best friend and leans her head onto her shoulder. Misty pushes a few strands of loose hair behind Delia's ear and decides to answer the curious roommates.

"Wow, you're pretty straight forward" The other girls laugh, mirroring the blonde's position, without the affectionate touches and glances. "I'm Misty, this is Delia. We're best friends since we were six. She's a little shy though" She gives a squeeze to their joined hands on Misty's lap.

"Am not" Cordelia argues halfheartedly. She knows Misty's just trying to mess with her.

"Are too" Another light touch, this time to the other girl's side.

"Amanda" One of the other girls says, interrupting their bickering. She knows them for all of ten minutes, but she can already see where this is going – and that they are probably in denial about it. "My step-sister Rebecca. Nice to meet you"

"Yea" Rebecca agrees. "And don't take everything my sister says so seriously, her big mouth is used to being ignored" That earns her a pout from her sister, and a light slap in the shoulder.

"That was mean. But she's right." Amanda agrees wholeheartedly after a moment. "Still doesn't mean I don't wanna know how you know the Headmistress and, maybe more importantly, what your powers are."

With a small laugh and a shake of her head against her friend's shoulder, Delia sets out to explain. She's sticking with the important parts, like how Myrtle is a friend of the family and how both the girls posses telekinetic powers, but their main focus lies in Alchemy and Necromancy. She leaves out the fact, that Fiona is her mother, in hopes no one has heard about it yet. She's not ashamed to admit it, but if she has the opportunity to stay anonymous for just a few more days, there's nothing stopping her from taking it. Misty chimes in here and there with a few helpful words and embarrassing side stories, and when they are done, the girls switch story telling. Rebecca is a Pyrokinetic, that found out she's a witch four years ago, when she accidentally set the curtains of her father's new girlfriend's living-room on fire. Said new girlfriend luckily happened to be Amanda's mother, a witch herself, that had been helping her daughter train her clearvoyancy and prepare her for school her whole life.

The girls spend the remainder of their first day in their room, getting unpacked and settled in, trading stories about life on different ends of the same country, their childhoods and how they all found their powers. Misty and Cordelia's story is of special interest to Amanda, since she _is_ incredibly curious and has an extremely hard time keeping her mouth shut when she wanted to know something or was going to call bullshit. More than once, a stern look from her sister was enough to shut her up (for the time being, she tells herself) but when the two blonde's push their single beds together, because there's just no way they are sleeping alone, Rebecca has to actively pull her sister into the adjacent bathroom to keep her from commenting.

At dinner time, the four girls, Cordelia and Misty hand in hand, make their way into the almost empty dining hall. During vacation times the girls staying at the boarding school aren't required to be present for any meal served at the hall, the older ones don't have to even during school times. Everyone over sixteen is simply asked to please inform them beforehand, if they will make it or not, so there's always enough food if some plans fall through every now and then, but never too much. All in all, the older students have pretty unrestricted access to any place in or outside the walls of the school building, as long as they show up for their required classes and do their assigned homework on time. After dinner they decided to spend a few hours getting to know the surroundings of the school because during vacation there is no curfew either. The siblings, having spend over a week here already, know most of the places that are great to hang out when it's getting late and so they end up in a small cafe, two streets down. Another few stories and laughs pass between them and before they know it, it's nearing on midnight and closing time, and so they reluctantly make their way back to school to end the day passed out in their room.

They pass Myrtle on the way upstairs, who gives them an approving smile seeing them laugh and talk with Rebecca and Amanda. She'd hoped that the girls would warm up to each other in time and she's glad 'in time' seemed to have been half a day.

Maybe, this two years won't be so bad after all.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter VI

The next four weeks pass relatively quickly. Between getting settled in, making friends and starting classes, there isn't really all that much time for second guessing your decision to actually come here. It had happened before, the two girls spending countless nights curled up together on their bed, debating if it wasn't better to run away right now and start their life on their own rather than be put into some boarding school Fiona had attended decades before, too. In the end they always knew that there really wasn't a choice – they were sixteen years old and not nearly as magically evolved to just disappear without a trace when you have the freaking Supreme looking for you – but they still liked to pretend there was.

Rebecca and Amanda help make life easier, too. Especially after, three days into the new term , some girl overheard the teachers talking and spread the news about Delia being the Supreme's daughter.

The girls have stayed mostly on their own, spending their free time only with their roommates, which didn't make them really popular to begin with, but since both Misty and Cordelia seemed to be rather quick learners and good students they were getting teased enough as it is.

When the rumor spread that they were family of the reigning Supreme, the older girls instantly started avoiding them, teasing and bullying when they did cross paths, because in most their opinions the daughter of the Supreme, and in extend her girlfriend, will always get special treatment, and that just isn't fair and so they took it for themselves to remind the girls of that constantly. The few students that actually tried to make friends with the two blondes were the ones wanting to make nice with the Supreme's family, to in turn make nice with the actual Supreme herself. They were sure that's the way to get chosen as a successor. Both Misty and Cordelia didn't want to do with any of them.

So, they dreaded loosing the only two friends they had, and really the whole two years they were supposed to spend at the Academy, but the sisters had walked into their room one evening, asked the important question (is it true?), shrugged their shoulders and said the four of them were going out for dinner tonight. It wasn't the reaction they had expected, but it was so much better.

Then the real school work began and between that and that little free time they could manage to squeeze in, they soon found themselves at the beginning of October and for the first time glad to be in New Orleans.

Amanda enters their room in a flurry of books, papers, a tray of hot chocolate and way too many candy bars for four people and promptly deposits the non-edible part of her baggage onto the floor in front of her.

"I come bearing gifts", she says with a smile, before handing around the beverages and flaunting herself onto the unoccupied space on the bed. She jostles the papers taking up residence in the middle of their small circle. Since neither Misty nor Cordelia made any attempt to push their beds apart again, their double became the girl's designated studying spot.

"You're a life saver" Cordelia takes a sip of her cup, leans back against Misty again, head resting on her shoulder, with the other girl's arm over hers, and eyes the other girl. "But I guess you did owe us, after ditching us to make out with your boyfriend" She's teasing, they all know that, but they still send a mock glare at Amanda.

"We weren't making out!", she defends herself with a laugh but before anyone could get a word of doubt in, she continues, "Not all the time, anyway." A week ago, when the others found her kissing Chad in the coffee shop they were supposed to meet after classes, she'd blushed furiously, stammered something incoherent and then blushed some more when they all, including Chad, started laughing at her. They have been dating since, but the girl still manages to divide her time equally between her friends and her boyfriend.

"Then what have you been up to the rest of the time?" Rebecca raises her eyebrows suggestively, trying very hard to hide the smile that threatens to take over her face.

She ignores her sister, a smile of her own spreading. "He asked me to the Halloween Ball"

"Oh my god! You said yes, didn't you?!"

"Tell me you said yes!"

"I hope you said yes!"

"Of course I did" With that the girl is engulfed in a big group hug.

The Halloween Ball is an annual party thrown by the Coven on the 31th October, and with the exception of non-magical family members and thoroughly background-checked significant others, the only time people not belonging to their Coven are allowed inside the walls of the Academy. Halloween, a day people use to pretend magic and witches and monsters exist in this world, is the perfect day to be themselves around others without giving away that they are in fact witches and wizards. The incredible special effects are things talked about for the rest of the year.

Even though technically, none of the students need an invitation to said Ball, there always has been some unspoken understanding, that you don't show up if you don't have a date. Which, right now, leaves three of the four friends with plans of dinner and a movie away from the Academy.

"Am I seriously the only one of us going?" She receives a series of nods. "Hank hasn't asked you yet?"

"No" A shake of the head accompanies the statement this time. A quick glance towards her best friend she hopes no one notices, follows that.

"Then go ask him" The sisters see a fleeting moment of something they couldn't quite identify cross the two faces in front of them, before Amanda continues. "You want him to, don't you?"

"Yes" It's everything but convincing and she recognizes that herself "I don't know"

"I thought you liked him" Rebecca was determined not to get involved in this mess, because she can see how much it hurt her two friends, but enough is enough. Hank Foxx is an acquaintance of Chad, is roughly three years older than them, and obviously interested in Cordelia. She pretends to be interested in him, too, but probably everyone except the three people at the center of this situation can see that it is just that – pretending. When she's into Hank, she's not into Misty, not into her best friend. She still thinks that's the better thing. Maybe one of them finally get her to admit that she doesn't really want Hank, and then maybe, just maybe, Cordelia finally sees that Misty's in love with her, too.

"I do. But maybe not in the way I thought I did" Delia relents, and thinks she feels Misty relax beside her. She must have imagined it, because why would she be doing that, after all there's no way Misty's feeling the same.

"If that's what you're feeling, maybe you should tell him that" The unspoken _and not see him again_ hangs heavily in the air between the two best friends. It's the first time Cordelia considers the possibility, that Misty might like her more than she lets on, after all. If she just wasn't so damn afraid to actually approach that subject.

"Okay" It's Amanda who breaks the slightly uncomfortable silence that spread out between them. "So how far did you come?"

Misty's the one who answers her, stacks the assortment of papers in a neat pile again and hands the ones they already processed over. They let her read them over for a few minutes, she's a pretty quick reader and learned, and then settled into another few hours of studying for their first exam.

By the end of the day, a text message from Hank asked her to meet him the next day.


	7. Chapter 7

It's just over a week until the Halloween Ball when Cordelia finally realizes that something is actually wrong. To this day Amanda is still the only one with a date and therefore the only one of the four of them even attending, but the other girl heard from her boyfriend that Hank was going to ask her on their date tomorrow – and of course the brunette couldn't keep that to herself.

The blonde had been going out with Hank for the last two weeks, ever since he'd asked her to meet him and then proceeded to actually ask her out on a date. She'd said yes, because she needed a niece and caring boyfriend in her life to get her to stop thinking about her best girl friend, and though she's pretending it's working, it really doesn't. She likes him enough to spend several days a week hanging out with him, she might even have kissed him once or twice, but even she knows that she doesn't like him like that. She's pretending anyway because it's better than the alternative.

Delia has long since come to terms with the fact that she's probably into women, at least that she's _also_ into women, but she just knows, Misty isn't and though she also knows that her friend won't judge her, there is no way she's risking their friendship over some silly crush.

But Misty had been acting strange and distant those last two weeks, ever since she realized Delia might really like that boy that was crushing on her. They were still sleeping in the same bed, staying close during the day, using the bathroom together, but something had changed. Cordelia had the feeling Misty felt uncomfortable being that close.

Misty would never say so, she loved her friend way too much for that, but she was jealous and hurt and she hated her best friend's boyfriend. The only thing she could do was pretend nothing had changed – and it worked more or less – until she overheard Amanda telling her sister about Hank's Halloween Ball invitation. Of course Delia was going to say yes, and that would change their dynamic irrevocably, forever and Misty decided she will not be the one cast away, but the one initiating the change.

That's why, when Cordelia comes into their room after her last class (the only one she doesn't attend with Misty), she walks into a scene she never thought she'd see. Misty is sitting cross-legged on her bed – _her bed –_ with her back to the door, folding laundry. The closet they hadn't used in all their time here is standing open, partly filled with Misty's dresses, while the bed is standing free of Cordelia's against the wall where it stood when they first arrived. The only thing that remained the same was the framed picture on Misty's nightstand – the two of them aged six, arms around each other and smiling into the camera. It's the very first picture of the two of them.

Misty throws a quick glance over her shoulder to acknowledge she heard Delia come in and then gets back to her task. Something's not right, but they have been able to talk about everything, so Cordelia decides to make a quick visit to the bathroom to give her friend a few minutes to wrap her head around whatever it is that's bothering her, before they would sort out what the problem is.

The bathroom, however, suddenly looks like the bathroom of four separate people, all of Misty's things have moved to the previously unoccupied sink and when, after washing her hands, Delia grabs for her towel, Misty's still wet. They never had a conscious conversation about it, but ever since that first day they showered together, they had made a habit out of not showering alone. It wasn't just that they had no qualms about sharing a shower now and then when they were in a hurry or whatever, but due to some unspoken agreement the girls always ended up in the bathroom together, instead of alone.

But today, Misty had already showered and had her own bed and her own space in the bathroom and yea, Cordelia realizes then, that something's really wrong between them.

She leaves the bath, looks at Misty curiously. "Hi"

Misty ignores her for a whole thirty seconds while putting the rest of her things into the closet. "Hi" That's all she says, doesn't turn around until she hears movement behind her when Delia walks closer.

"What's wrong?" She has almost reached her friend, when Misty turns on her heels and walks back over to her bed. She plops down and busies herself with the comforter. At least she hasn't turned her back on the other blonde again.

"Nothing" she shrugs. Cordelia looks on disbelievingly. Misty sights, but elaborates after a moment. "Nothing's wrong. I just think it's time we start living our lives a bit more separately. We're sixteen" Another pause, then. "and you have Hank now"

"Okay" It isn't quite a statement, but more of a question. She's still waiting for more of an explanation. She should have known Misty's behavior the last two weeks had something to do with Hank, and subconsciously she knows she did, but what she doesn't know is _why_. "What's gotten into you all of a sudden?" Obviously the explanation isn't forthcoming, so Delia tries prying.

Still no answer. Instead, the tall blonde turns around, folds her legs under her and takes her book from her bag next to her bed. She never intended to be like this, she had spend the last fourteen days days talking herself into believing she can be in love with her best friend and still be her best friend, but while rearranging her things in the room, she started to realize she can't do it. She needs a few more days, maybe even weeks, to get over this. She just hopes she doesn't destroy their friendship with it.

"Why won't you talk to me?!" Cordelia is staring at her friend's back, trying to hold her tears at bay. They've never been like this and she doesn't know what to do with it.

"Because there's nothing to talk about" It's more than she had expected for an answer, but it still doesn't explain anything. If anything, it just makes her all the more sad. Both of them really, but if they were good at saying things like that out loud, they weren't even in this mess.

They stand there like this - Misty pretending to read, Cordelia pretending not to cry – for another solid ten minutes. Neither of them moving or saying anything until the situation becomes awkward enough for Delia to have to leave. Misty doesn't acknowledge the movement behind her.

"What's going on?" Rebbecca finally makes herself noticed. The girl has been observing the strange scene for the last five minutes from the open doorway. She hasn't seen her two best friends like that in the months they know each other. She's pretty sure she knows what the problem is, though.

"Nothing" The two blondes answer simultaneously and it's the first thing they have agreed on in the last five days.

Misty abandons her book then and heads for the bathroom, hiding. Cordelia turns to face the door, and in turn Rebbecca, fully, wiping at her teary eyes without thinking and starts to leave the bedroom. She's stopped by her friend before she reaches the doorway – she doesn't really want to talk to anyone right now, but it's not Becca's fault she's pissed and sad, and honestly, Delia does not even know where she's headed after storming out.

"She's in love with you, you know" She's sworn she never will be the one saying it out loud first, but she can't take it anymore. Everyone who knows them – and probably the ones who don't, too – can see that they were in love with each other. It seems the only ones not privy to that were Cordelia and Misty themselves. She only want to help, hopes she actually does.

"I... thanks, Bec" she doesn't know what else to say. This time when she turns around to leave, Rebbecca lets her go.


	8. Chapter 8

So folks, this is it. I marked this story as complete, because I am not really as invested in the characters as I hoped I would be after getting back into writing this. I managed to sit myself down and give you at least a conclusion, and actual ending, but I'm afraid, that this will be the last chapter... at least for a while. Maybe, some day I will come back to this and explore more of this great relationship, but right now I'm busy with work and other fanfiction to conjure up the time or the interest in continuing this. Hope you guys still enjoyed it and thank you for reading :)

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Chapter VIII

Cordelia spends the rest of the day holed up in the greenhouse, joins a voluntary study group about ancient herbs. It's incredibly boring because she doesn't learn anything new at all, but she needs a reason to stay in the greenhouse and something to get her mind off her encounter with Misty for a while. More than once, she's wiping tears from her eyes and cheeks, praying the other girls don't notice, because the last thing she needs is their questions or their pity – real or not.

When the group disperses Delia stays behind, helps clean up the pots and tools and plants they'd used, makes polite small talk with their tutor and when she turns to leave, she drops the keys to the greenhouse in Cordelia's hands, asks her to lock up after her and disappears. Under normal circumstances, she hates being treated special just because she's the Supreme's daughter, but today there's nothing better, that could have happened to her. She stays for another two hours, thinks about everything that would get her mind off her current situation; sits at one of the tables with her face in her hands and cries about her current situation. When she finally feels like crying isn't going to solve anything, it's real late and the sun had already set. She debates about going back to her room, but she can't face Misty (or the way she had reorganized their things) quite yet. She's not allowed to leave the school property over night though, either.

So she ends up at her aunt's office door, knocks gently and hopes the woman's not too busy that Delia is interrupting and simultaneously hopes she has enough work to have her up at this hour at all. The blonde's in luck, when she hears a faint but confused 'come in' from the other side of the solid wooden door. It does look like the headmistress is deep in some files, but when she looks up and spots Delia and recognizes immediately that the girl has been crying, she abandons all of those, gets up to envelop her honorary niece into a tight hug. Cordelia closes the door behind her with her foot and melts into the woman's arms – to her horror, she feels herself crying again.

Myrtle gradually steers them into the direction of the couch in the corner of her office and when she sits down, she pull the sobbing girl into her arms again and waits her out. Absently, her hands are stroking up and down her back, over her hair and wiping the occasional tear off of her face. It takes Delia about half an hour before she can form a coherent sentence in her head, let alone speak it through her tears.

"I'm sorry..." she starts, pulls back and looks at her aunt, sheepishly.

"There's no need to be sorry for anything, my dear. I told you I'm here if you needed me" She takes Cordelia's hand in her own, giving it a firm squeeze. "Now why don't you tell me what happened?" There are two things the headmistress can think of at the top off her head that could make Delia upset – mean girls picking on her because of her parentage or her mother – but the former hadn't made her cry like this ever and the latter didn't have that power over her anymore for many years now. Then she remembers, Delia has a boyfriend now. "What did he do?" It isn't accusatory, but just plain inquisitive and comfortable.

She doesn't have to ask who _he_ is, of course Myrtle's first conclusion would be her boyfriend. "Nothing" Delia answers truthfully. Because he really hadn't done anything wrong – except for gaining an interest in her, for asking her out, for being conveniently there when Cordelia needed someone to distract her from her feelings for her best friend.

Myrtle looks at her skeptically, but doesn't question it. "I haven't heard from your mother in weeks, so I'm guessing she's not the reason for your crying either?!" Delia isn't sure if that was supposed to be a question or a statement, but she shakes her head in the negative anyway. "So then it's the other girls?"

This time it is a question and dutifully, Delia answers. "No" Then she takes a deep breath and, before her aunt could open her mouth to say something around the lines like 'I can't help you if you don't talk to me', she adds. "It's Misty"

Myrtle's mouth opens and closes a few times, not finding the right words to that. She has never seen the girl's apart, they had never so much as argued since the day they've met, but this looks like a real, drawn-out fight. She doesn't know what to say, doesn't know how this could have happened. Then she remember, Delia has a boyfriend now.

Suddenly, she knows exactly what had happened and what to say, but she also knows, she probably shouldn't. But she's the responsible adult – the one children are supposed to look up to, not cuss over - and so she keeps her mouth shut and waits for Delia to continue.

"She rearranged our room" Delia starts slowly, but then she realizes, that Myrtle must've probably seen this coming for a long time now, and she's glad she actually has someone to talk about this with. "Says we need our own, personal space. That we should learn to be separate people since I have Hank now" She doesn't want to cry again, so she closes her eyes for a moment before focusing back on her aunt.

"Maybe she's right" Myrtle voices carefully. "Maybe it's for the best. Both of you knew that the day would come when you would move on with boyfriends and husbands."

"Okay, seriously, in hindsight, I appreciate all the times you probably wanted to scream at us to finally see what's right in front of everyone, but could we stop the pretending?" She actually smiles a faint smile at her own words.

"Oh, so you finally realized it, too?!" She receives a smile in return.

"I had a little help from Becca" She's almost embarrassed to admit that.

"I'm real proud of you" There is, of course sincerity behind that statement, but for the most part it's nothing more than mocking, and it receives the intended result – the girl actually laughs out loud for a moment.

"Thank you, really" It matches Myrtle's sarcastic tone perfectly. Then she adds dramatically. "I'm trying real hard to find the courage to admit to you that I'm in love with Misty here, and what you do is mock me?" She pretends to be hurt until she realizes what she just said. "Oh my god"

"You want to take it back?" Myrtle knows, it's not possible to take those words back, but she's also talking with a sixteen year old teenager that's good at pretending things don't exist. She's sure Delia'd find a way to do just that.

"No" the girl, however, is quick to answer. "I know I am, doesn't matter if I say it or not, it's just the first time I actually did"

"And how does that feel?"

"Good"

They sit there for a while longer, in silence, going over in their heads what they had just said out loud. Then Cordelia breaks it with the sudden need to clarify "I want to be with Misty, I don't want Hank"

Myrtle nods patiently. "Have you told any of them that already?"

Delia is quiet after that. She knows she should (has to), and soon before things get even more out of hand, but she just doesn't know how to yet. Dumping a boy she shouldn't even be going out with in the first place shouldn't be too hard, but she actually likes Hank (even if it's not in the way he seems ta like her). She will have to find a way to let him down gently; and then hope her best friend still wants to be with her.

She spends the night on the big, comfy couch in her aunt's bedroom and she doesn't show up for breakfast, because she can't face Misty before she talked to Hank. It's a Saturday and so she doesn't have to fear seeing her in class either and so Delia sneaks out of the house when all the others are either still sleeping or fighting over seats in the dining room.

When she returns an hour later, she walks straight up to her bedroom and gladly finds it empty apart from the person she wants to see. Misty doesn't turn around, ignores Delia for a whole minute and only when Cordelia finally has enough, just before she unnecessarily snaps, Misty throws a quick glance over her shoulder. "Hi"

"Hi" It's better than nothing, Delia thinks. "How are you?" It's stupid, but she needs to start somewhere.

"Fine" A shrug of her shoulders. "You need something?" Ruder than she should have been, but it's clear Delia didn't just come in her to change or study – and Misty'd like to get to the point as fast as they could.

"Actually, yes." There's conviction behind her words, which promptly disappears after she sees her friend's shoulders deflate after her next words "I just went to see Hank"

"What a lucky guy" It's dripping with sarcasm. Maybe she should not have started her great confession of love by mentioning the boy responsible for this mess. "You finally have a date to the Halloween Ball?" There is a 100% lack of any interest in Misty's question, but at least it's a conversation.

"No" That's what I'm here to talk to you about, is what she thinks; can't really say it in words yet.

"Why on earth not?" It sounds sincere and Delia finally has her opening – and she takes it, before the conversation returns back into almost hateful snarks.

"Because I told him I'm in love with someone else" Now that it's out there, Delia breaths a sigh of relieve.

Misty's head snaps up when Cordelia suddenly stands right in front of her, looks down at her friend with meaningful eyes. Could this finally be happening?! By the look on Delia's face, there's no other answer than: Yes, it it.

A hand sneaks up, and positions itself on either of Cordelia's hips, gently pulling her even closer than she already is. Her knees land on either side of Misty's body on the bed and the shorter blonde sinks onto her friend's lap, so they are almost the same height.

"Yea?" Misty breathes against the lips she desperately wants to kiss again. "Do I know them?" Delia's sitting so close now, that Misty's lips brush up against her's when she smirks.

"Probably not" And before Misty can say or do anything else, she is kissing her best friend and there's no where the two of them rather want to be right now. "For the record" Misty gets in breathlessly, when they have to part for air the first time. "I love you, too" Then she falls backwards onto the mattress, pulls a smiling Cordelia with her and the last coherent thought she can manage when their lips connect again, is that they could have had this months ( if not years) ago.


End file.
